Haiti's devastation means that the news media has less filler to produce. And that's a good thing. Plus Fark's favorite Headlines of the Week for 1/10 through 1/16Posted by Drew at 2010-01-19 11:28:48 AM (43 comments) | Permalink

Normally this time of year is reserved for all manner of not-news, but the Haiti disaster is giving the media a real chance to show what they can do, and they've been stepping up to the plate. Well done, news organizations. The tragedy there is staggering, and is a good reminder for everybody of how bad the Haitians have had it, and for how long. Aid is still slow coming, but not because people aren't trying, it's just that the devastation is so massive.

"There are no security issues," says Dr. Evan Lyon of Partners in Health, reporting from the General Hospital in Port-Au-Prince in Haiti, where 1,000 people are in need of operations. Lyon said the reports of violence in the city have been overblown by the media and have affected the delivery of aid and medical services.

stryker4526:You mean being constantly bombarded with Haiti stories doesn't count as filler? I mean at some point they just start saying the same thing over and over and over again.

This.

A sampling of the articles from a major news site:

Haiti: See the devastationFamilies Devastated in HaitiHaiti Quake Caught On Tape: See The VideoFamilies search for Loved Ones in HaitiHaiti: High-resolution devastation mapHaitian Orphans Meet New Parents

Really, they couldn't combine one or two of these into a single article with a broader topic? Do we really need 200 *separate* articles about one event?

Uch. The Politics headlines just suck, don't they? Nothing that isn't a cheap jab is even getting greenlit anymore. I would really like to see a move back to actual cleverness there instead of endless 'the entire country hates you' 'no, the entire country hates YOU'.

jaldor:stryker4526: You mean being constantly bombarded with Haiti stories doesn't count as filler? I mean at some point they just start saying the same thing over and over and over again.

This.

A sampling of the articles from a major news site:

Haiti: See the devastationFamilies Devastated in HaitiHaiti Quake Caught On Tape: See The VideoFamilies search for Loved Ones in HaitiHaiti: High-resolution devastation mapHaitian Orphans Meet New Parents

Really, they couldn't combine one or two of these into a single article with a broader topic? Do we really need 200 *separate* articles about one event?

If they did that they wouldn't be able to generate as many click throughs. Media isn't about information.

Gosling 2010-01-19 02:10:49 PMDeadZone: Has the media started reporting on the media in Haiti? 'cause that's kind of my bellwether as to when a disaster is winding down: When the reporters get all self-referential.

Kind of hard not to when the CNN medical correspondent is the only neurosurgeon anyone can find.

netweavr:Hasn't that building been in trouble since before the rainfall. It's the one where they didn't think to dump boulders below the cliff until half of it fell off, right?

They wanted to dump boulders, but something got messed up with the permit, so they couldn't. The building owners on either side did get to dump boulders, but are also in danger now as well. Another section of the same street went surfing a few years back.

DeadZone:Has the media started reporting on the media in Haiti? 'cause that's kind of my bellwether as to when a disaster is winding down: When the reporters get all self-referential.

"Tom Brokaw's plane landed in the Dominican Republic yesterday, and they expected at least a ten-hour trek through devastatation and jungles to get to the new devastation and jungle. We don't know exactly where he is right now, and we haven't heard from him in quite some time ..."

whizbangthedirtfarmer:#1. I'm not sure how running an internet news message board qualifies someone as a media critic. I made dinner last night, so am I a chef?

What exactly would qualify a person to be a media critic, in your opinion? Having a journalism degree? To me, a guy that sorts through thousands of published news links a day has a pretty good finger on the pulse of what's being reported.

Oh joy, the newsmedia criticism again.As always, I'm amused by the hypocrisy of denouncing the media's practice of serving up filler while running a site that has it as its main course. Anyone who clicks on a link to a filler article shares responsibility for the continued production of such content. There isn't some conspiracy of the media to drown us in drivel; we make it profitable. It makes no difference whether one recognizes it as "Not News" or not, one is still part of the audience.

Hey, I enjoy the filler too, but at least let's be honest about it and get off the high horse.

/Stay tuned for our next guest, a porn shop owner who wishes to air his utter disgust with the amount of nudity showing up in films today.